Camp Driftwood

Epilogue - Ashes to Ashes

Epilogue – Ashes to Ashes

Henry stood in the woods before the iron gates, the Ghoul's corpse laid at his feet as the first light of the morning crept over the horizon. The gates were wide open, and the camp laid out before him was still. He walked forward cautiously, listening intently for any signs of life. He didn't hear a single heartbeat, except for a few small animals in the surrounding woodlands. Without wasting any more time, he moved.

The gravel track was well worn, and the building were weathered. If he had to guess, he'd say that this place was thirty years old, at the very least. Hale had been doing this for a long time. It was impossible to say how many children that Hale had taken in that timeframe, though it would be at least a thousand. All in search of The Four, the hope that one of those special children would be one of them. It was what drove him, it was his very reason for living. In an eerie way, it was the same for Henry. The only difference was that while Hale sought to kill or enslave The Four, Henry wanted to save them.

He moved on, catching scents from the all over the place. Wood smoke, and not from bonfire close by. From the smell of it, it was recent, and large. He cast his gaze to the far side of the camp, seeing the burned fields and destroyed buildings, now little more than dust and ash. There was fuel as well, and judging from the tracks kicked up in the gravel, a truck. It had left recently, no more than a few hours, judging from the lingering smells in the camp.

Henry's jaw locked, canines extending out of reflex to the stress; he was too late. Hale's camp was abandoned. Still he moved forward, hoping beyond hope that there was something left of Kaylee in here. There had to be something. As he walked in the centre of the camp, he took in all that he could. The high walls, the cabins which were presumably for the children, and the large centre building. He would try the larger building first, and see if there was anything left behind that he could use. Walking towards the far side of the building, Henry saw something that he hadn't noticed on the way in. A Jeep was parked on the far side of the building, tucked out of the way, currently empty. That meant that somebody was still around, and he was certainly patient enough to wait. In the meantime, he could look around.

As he walked through the entrance, he noted that both doors had been broken down, hinges completely twisted off the walls. A large group had pushed through here, and recently. As he entered, he smelled blood. He pushed past the intoxicating aroma, focusing on the individual scents in an attempt to identify something familiar. With a smile that quickly turned into a worried frown, he found what he was looking for. Kaylee's blood. Having spent so much time around her, he'd memorised it without even really intending to. It was as unique as a fingerprint, distinct as a voice.

He continued, letting his senses take over as he tried to piece together what had happened here. There had been a fight, that much was clear. There were bullet holes scattered through the building, yet there wasn't enough of Kaylee's blood in the air to indicate that she'd been shot. More likely, a few punches. Henry couldn't help but smile. He didn't envy anyone that got into a fistfight with Kaylee Adams. Sweat hung in the air as well, more evidence of a struggle, as well as a number of overturned tables and chairs. Kaylee's scent move on to a doorway on the far side of the room, so he followed.

This room was smaller, and the scent of Kaylee's blood was here as well. Along with another scent that he'd smelled a long time ago. Deacon Hale. It was quite bare at present, aside from a few chairs and a desk, but this would likely have been his office. The smells were fading though, the shattered window was letting the wind from the cliff flow through. If it was particularly old, it would have all dispersed by now. If he had to guess, this happened last night, eight hours ago at most.